Pastor's Reflection - 1/18/18

I was so surprised a couple of weeks ago. I was watching Good
Morning America and their special guest for the morning was a
young Christian gospel artist named Tasha Cobbs. She was
preparing to sing one of her newer songs, it was called "Getting
Ready." The amazing and surprising thing was that I was watching
a network (6abc) television show and when they asked her to tell
a little about the song she was about to sing, she said (and I
may not have the quote exactly right), "What I'm doing with this
song is introducing God to people who need God. I want them to
know that when they're going through even the worst times, they
can know that God is there and they can look forward to seeing
and experiencing something they've never seen or experienced
before, because that's what God is like."

The song was wonderful - she did an excellent job and
is very talented. You could tell that she and her accompanists
were singing from their hearts - they were true believers. But
the most remarkable thing for me was seeing her being asked to,
essentially, give her own personal testimony through both words
and lyrics, to the grace and goodness of God on a network TV
show. Intentionally. It was almost a shocking thing to see in
this day and age. I sat back and marveled! Good for GMA!

I love it when I hear (and especially when I SEE)
people unashamedly give witness to their faith publicly. It's a
rare thing these days. But it's the only way to make any kind of
impact at all in our very secular society, isn't it? The only
way people can hear and see God's presence and God's grace is
through our stories and our testimonies - not given in that
infamous "holier than thou" stance, but given in love and in
sincerity - in the right place and at the right time.

I sincerely hope that Tasha Cobbs touched a few
hearts that morning and caused a few people to give God more than
a passing thought. I hope she lit a fire in a few hearts. And I
hope all of us are looking for ways to share OUR faith and our
confidence in a loving, compassionate God. Our stories ALSO have
the power to touch hearts and to light fires.